ROMANCE: SHIFTER: Shifter to the Max Collection (Dragon, Bear, Wolf and Panther Shifter Romances) (Paranormal Fantasy Romance Collection) (102 page)

Mira did not want to wake from her dream. It was so soothing; the feeling of resting atop a cloud but wrapped securely in someone's arms. It was a safe, secure sensation that she had longed for, but hadn’t felt in quite some time. This dream seemed to stretch on with subtle sensations like fingers brushing along her thighs, tickling at the backs of her knees, a sensual experience that left her feeling highly aroused.

Mmmm… those feather-soft touches soothing her body, that slow ache building in her belly, her breathing was slow and deep, body quivering slightly with those gentle caresses along her frame, like a tender promise. A quiet little moan slipped past her lips, her head rolled to the side and a light sheen of sweat was visible along her skin. Rolling over, she crushed the wound on her leg, sending a sharp, shooting pain through her and causing her eyes to blink open. She uttered a curse before sitting straight up. Looking around the room quickly and blinking in alarm, a tremor of fear coursed through her. This wasn't home. Where was she?

She winced and gripped her head, a flash of images racing through her consciousness, the foremost being the reason her leg hurt. Wolves. But, there were no wolves in sight here. It took another moment to figure out that she was out of her clothing. A sudden panic shook her body. Her heart lurched into overdrive and she felt nauseous. Of course, this wasn’t the first time since “the incident” that she had woken to a feeling like this. She was quite terrified at the moment, and felt a strain at her thigh. Mira looked around quickly, trying to find something to use as a weapon. She noticed her clothes neatly folded on the side of the bed. A curious thing to do if someone had brought her here to have their way with her. She also felt her bikini style underwear still on, her bra as well.

But where was she? Mira looked out the window and her heart sank. The house seemed to be hidden away in the woods. What if she were being held captive? She felt the blood drain from her face, and her body began trembling. Her head seemed to be wobbling unsteadily atop her neck.

Mira felt as though her blood sugar was low. She had possibly lost a lot of blood from the wolf bite. It took her several minutes, but using a breathing technique her therapist had taught her, she was able to stop the dizzy spell. Suddenly, she heard movement in the other room. Footsteps, to be precise. She hastily looked around, grasping an ice pick that had been placed next to her pack. She still wasn’t convinced that she wouldn’t need to physically defend herself.

A man walked into the room. No, not just a man, the hands-down most gorgeous man Mira had ever seen. He was tall and wide with ebony hair, thick bulging muscles, and broad shoulders that any football coach would be proud to see on one of his players. The man’s hazel eyes stirred something in her. There was something about him, something beyond his physical appearance, that drew her in. Mira was astonished when she realized that for the first time in a long, long time, she felt a strong attraction- to a man. Actually, it was more than attraction, he felt
safe
. The same way she had felt in her dream. Why did the fact that she momentarily felt safe in the presence of a male stranger all of a sudden unnerve her? Because, she shouldn’t logically feel safe. Right? She reminded herself of how she was clothed, or unclothed as it were, and she raised her pick into the air threateningly.

The man instantly held up his hands, as if a gun were pointed at him, and he kept himself at a distance from her. Clad in a tight-fitting black t-shirt and jeans, he looked like someone that should be on a magazine cover, not at all like a perverted-kidnapper-sex-trafficker on the lamb and hiding away deep in the wilderness.

“Whoa now, sweetheart, I'm not gonna hurt you.” His voice had a low, deep, soothing tone. He waited a moment, watching the conflict in her eyes, before slowly lowering his hands and leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed.

“I found you out there, injured, and bleeding on the snow. Trust me, sweetheart, you don't need to keep that ice pick raised anymore; I have no desire to do anything obscene to you,”
against your will, that is
, he added silently. His voice, again, was a soft growling tone, though surprisingly gentle for a man of his size. Mira felt her cheeks tint briefly but only lowered the pick slightly. Her free hand tugged at the collar of the robe she wore.

“Then care to explain this? You could have just transported me to a hospital. Why didn't you?” Mira's tone was clipped. She blinked in surprise when he let out a soft laugh, running his fingers through his jet-black hair.

“Not used to getting help, are you? My place was closer, and the last thing I needed was for you to bleed out on me any more than you had,” he said, and pointed to the bedding beneath her. A good amount of blood was still soaked in from wrapping her wound. She felt her face heat up again, and her thought was cut off as his hand rose to silence her.

“Getting you out of those wet clothes was a priority. The nearest hospital is a 40 minute drive west of here and I did not want to risk making you wait that long. You were pale enough as is. I wanted to get your leg tended to and wrapped properly as soon as possible. Though, it seems you’ve already opened the wound by tossing and turning. Bad dream?”

Mira blinked, looking down at the bloodied bandage. She lowered her pick onto the bed, before glancing back at him. He noticed her cheeks flush pink as she mumbled, “I… I have nightmares…. Bad ones.” She was still a bit suspicious, though she had to admit, he hadn't given her any reason not to trust him. If he wanted to do something to her, he could have easily done it while she was unconscious.

“I... I'm sorry. I've been rude. My name is Mira Jenkins. Again, I apologize, I'm not used to being helped, as you mentioned before,” Mira started. A roaring chuckle came from the man which, in turn, caused Mira’s lips to turn up slightly in a small half-smile.

“I'm sure it's disorienting to wake up in a stranger's bed in the middle of the wilderness. My name is Cade Donovan. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mira Jenkins. I'm sure that we would both have preferred to meet under a different set of circumstances, but there isn't much that can be done about that. Would you mind if I redress your wound? The bleeding needs to be stopped again.”

For such a large man, his voice wasn't very intimidating. At least, not to Mira. She took a breath, and paused before answering. She could feel the heat rise to her cheeks, and silently cursed her sudden shyness.

“Yes, if you don't mind. Although, I suppose I already owe you big time for helping me out like this. I don't have much in the way of money but I would like to pay you a little to thank you for helping me out so much.”

He laughed, waving his hand dismissively. “No, no, no money is needed. We need you get back up to full strength so we can make the trek back down the mountain.” Mira stifled a grin when she noticed he said
we
.

“Alright, lay back and let's see how bad the damage is.”

“Ow... Ouch!”

Mira winced as the tape was peeled away from her wounded leg, inhaling sharply. Of course, the man that saved her would have to be an absolute hunk and have an amazing personality to boot. It would be her luck to have to struggle to not fall for the guy.

“My apologies, ma’am- Er, Mira,” he said, pausing at the sideways glare she gave him.

Cade offered a toothy, sheepish little grin as an apology for falling into his old habits. Just a moment before, he had referred to her as ma’am and she had explained quite firmly that she didn't like to be called that, and that she would rather be called by her name.

“It's fine Cade, it's just- Ow!” Mira flinched as the gauze was peeled away, having to catch her breath at the wave of nausea the pain caused. She flat-out refused to look at the wound, trusting him to take care of it. But, the smell of the blood was enough to make her even queasier. His hand moved quickly to steady her leg from moving and she jerked reflexively and cowered backwards on the bed slightly. Cade froze.

“Mira, are you... Alright?” he questioned softly, confused by the look of fear that was anchored on her face.

She nodded hastily, swallowing hard and struggling to breathe. “Y-Yes, I'm sorry, just... just continue, please,” Mira’s voice trembled and she was very obviously struggling to catch her breath. Her fingers gripped the blankets tightly. She knew Cade was watching her. She looked away, but he noticed her knuckles turning white from the death-grip she had on the sheets.

He isn't going to hurt you, Mira, just calm down
.

She tried to gain control of herself. Her breathing was ragged and her head sunk down into the pillow as she tried to slow her heartrate down. She was already sweating profusely, but now she shook bodily from the fear that plagued her.

Cade sighed quietly, he didn’t know what trauma she had endured in her past to cause this type of reaction, but he knew exactly what she was going through. He also knew that he had to put a lid on his own anger that was rising to the surface as he watched her suffer. He wanted to kill whoever hurt this beautiful woman. His wolf was clawing at his insides to get out and seek vengeance for her. Cade knew he had to remain calm for Mira’s sake. The last thing she needed in her state was to sense his anger emanating from him. He reached with slow, exaggerated movements to pull the covers up, holding them out to her.

“If you feel comfortable enough, put this over your head. That way you won't be startled as easily. Plus, you won't see the blood.” He was genuinely worried about her. Trying to ignore the humiliation she felt, she nodded once and swallowed, pulling the covers over her head and grasping onto them tightly.

Mira had a silent conversation with herself about how gentle and kind this man has been and after several minutes she actually did seem to be feeling more at ease. Her breathing calmed, but she shivered as she felt his fingertips brush along the edges of the bandage. His touch sent tingles through her and she was quite glad that the blanket was over her face.

The touches were careful and rather intimate, whether they intended to be or not. The shock of a cool rag made her flinch for moment, and then she relaxed as he tenderly dabbed at the wound. He movements were so caring, he damn near had a lover's touch. Mira felt the cool drip of a cleansing agent before the small sting of pain. She knew the peroxide was bubbling, killing bacteria. She relaxed entirely as Cade wiped it away and spread pain relieving antibiotic along the wound.

“I'm going to put the gauze and tape on again, you'll feel some pressure.” Cade's voice was somewhat muffled as she listened through the blanket.

Mira nodded slightly, able to withstand the pain far easier this time. His hands moved expertly along her flesh, smoothing out the gauze. Mira barely noticing him lifting her leg to gently wrap and tape the underside.

She was calm by the time Cade was satisfied with his workmanship. When he reached up and slowly eased the covers down, Mira squinted at the light.

“All finished. How does it feel?”

“Much better now, thank you, Cade.” Was it her imagination, or did that look in his hazel eyes say that he was growing fond of her? She shifted and pushed the cover off of her, careful not to pull on the bandage too much. He had done a tremendous job. Not only had he cleaned and dressed the wound, but he had applied a plastic covering and waterproof tape over the gauze.

It was so curious. How could she feel this comfortable with him? She couldn’t figure it out. After the start of the panic attack a few minutes ago, she should be in full-blown hysteria mode by now, but, instead, he had managed to calm her. When she met his gaze again, the look in his eyes make her heart skip a beat. Oh, my, he looked like he might be more than fond of her. Mira felt her cheeks tint and she shifted her bottom back a little on the bed. Cade took that as a sign that he was too close to her. He responded by taking a step backwards. He placed the soiled bandages in a bag and sealed it before returning everything to his medical kit.

“I never did ask, what exactly happened? Those bite marks suggest wolves but I didn't see any when I arrived.”

Cade's question caught her off guard. Mira rubbed the back of her neck, glancing to the side as she tried to recall what happened.

Cade's eyes were on her. His question was meant to provide him with information about how much she had seen, and if perhaps, she saw him shift at any point.

“Well, it was all a blur... One minute I hear a howl of a pissed off wolf, then I'm surrounded by a pack. I didn't even see them surround me. I remember trying to fight them off, one biting me, then…” She paused, frowning slightly, then shaking her head slowly she smiled apologetically at him.
“It sounds silly, but... I think that there was a bigger wolf that came to help me out. I just remember a huge one with black fur, and another wolf was launched to the side as if it weighed nothing, and then... Well, I woke up here.”

She shook her head and chuckled slightly. “I swear, I'm not crazy. That wolf was huge- like it could stand up like a human without a problem,” said Mira.

Cade let out a sigh. He nodded and stood after a moment, his eyes looked softly at her. “I believe you. There are many odd things that go on in these woods. I've lived here most of my life, so I can attest to that. Just be careful, other people may think you lost too much blood and became delusional.” Cade offered her a wide grin, winking at her.

Mira's face turned bright red. Even with her blood loss, she could still blush just as easily as ever. Clearing her throat, she shook her head and pouted at him. She noticed an odd look flicker across his features, something akin to sadness, but it was gone in an instant.

“I'll get you some food. I hope that venison and mashed potatoes will be good enough for you. I don't exactly have much of a talent for cooking.” Cade laughed. Mira smiled and pressed a hand to her growling stomach as it an answered him.

“That sounds amazing, Cade. Really, you are a Godsend. I'm starving!” Mira was able to laugh and joke with a complete stranger, and a man, no less. Something within her was bothered by that. She didn't dwell on it, though. She released a giggle at the dramatic bow Cade gave her before promptly turning to go to fix her a plate.

Catching herself staring after him, she had to force down another blush. She was falling for the man so easily, it scared her.